Oil-filter



R. W. ROOTS.

oIL Hmm APPLICATION FILED FEB. l 1919.

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R. W. ROOTS.

OIL FILTER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I. I9I9. 1,850,521 PatentedAug. 24,1920.

Z/ 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. f

Mm'. lIIIIIII UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD WEST ROOTS, OF 'BAILAR/AT, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- THIRD TO STANLEY ROOTS, OF BALLARAT, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, AND ONE- THIRD TO JAMES FALCONER, OF WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND.

OIL-FILTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

Application led February 1, 1919. Serial No. 274,473.

To all whom z' may concern:

Be it known that I, Riel-TARD IEST Roo'rs, a citizen of the Commonwealth of Australia, and residing at 103 lVebster street, Ballarat, in the State of Victoria, Commonwealth of Australia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oil- Filters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to filters for separating impurities from lubricating oils used in internal combustion engines and for other purposes. It is intended for installation in an engine room, garage or other place where dirty oils can be conveniently treated and rendered again fit for use.

Oil used in the crank chambers and particularly when employed as a lubricant in engine cylinders very soon becomes charged with impurities which must be eliminated if the oil is to remain efiicient.

According to this invention I utilize a rigid container preferably oval in shape, having two compartments separated by a partition. In one of the compartments is a hollow vertical spindle on which is supported a series of super-posed fine gauze traps diminishing in diameters toward the lower end of the spindle.

Heated water is contained in the compartment holding the traps and the dirty oil is fed to the vertical spindle which discharges the same into the lowermost trap. The oil passes upward through the traps 4and the heated water and overflows through an oil discharge pipe in the partitions into the other compartment, wherein is a fine gauze bucket or screen into which the oil finally passes, and whence the same is discharged. Means are provided for regulating the level of the water in the vfirst compartment and for draining the oil and water from the machine.

But in order that the invention may be thoroughly understood reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1, is a front elevation of the filter,

Figs. 2 and 3, details of the series of gauze traps and gauze bucket respectively.

Fig. 4, is a sectional elevation of a trap,

Fig. 5, is a plan of Fig. 1, the lids being removed,

Fig. 6, is a longitudinal sectional rear elevation of the container without the traps and bucket, and,

.spindle 13 supports at its upper end a funnel 14 above which is suspended a strainer 15 adapted to receive the oil to be filtered.

vThe pipe 13 has attached the series of cir- Acular traps 17, which are made with depending sides forming curtains 17L composed of fine wire gauze attached to shallow light solid metal trays 1S, which provide the necessary stiffening foi-'the curtains and a solid roof 17 thereto. In the d 1awings the series is composed of four traps in diminishing diameters toward the lowest. The

. diameters are such that each trap is entirely below the area of the trap immediately above. After the oil has flowed down the pipe 13 the same escapes within the lowest trap, and as it is a property of oil to float on water it immediately seeks to escape from the gauze trap to the surface of the water in the compartment. In doing so it passes through the gauze curtain and float upward, but will be caught by the trap immediately above, whence the oil escapes to the next trap and so on until it has risen to the surface of the water. The mesh of the gauze composing the traps should be largest in the lowest trap and decrease to very fine-in the upper one. If the oil is not very dirty it will pass through all the gauze curtains freely leaving therein the foreign matter.

Should the lowest or any other of the curtains become choked so that the oil is prevented from passing through the gauze it may escape upward through the pipes 19 from one trap to the next. These pipes have their openings respectively near the lip of the gauze curtains and the floors 17" of the solid trays as shown. To facilitate freeing the gauze from impurities during the filtering process the spindle or pipe 13 is tted with a horizontal bar 2O which is hung in the bearings 21. The series of traps can be `ment 21]-, wherein is the gauze bucket or screenV 25. The use of this screen will onlyV be necessary in the treatment of very dirtyl loils and such as are -not thoroughly cleaned Y in their passage through the traps. rheoil coming into the compartment 24 will pass through the very line gauze of the bucket 25 and will -flow out through the orifices 26. These orifices are made in V shaped lugs 27 which engage in corresponding grooves in r plates 28. The faces of theplates and the outer part of the V shaped lugs are scraped and polished to provide oil tight joints. The openings 26 in the bearings coincide with the openings 26A, in the plates and container.

VThe lower opening 2G will be through the cock 26B, while the pipe 29 will discharge the oil from the upperopenings 26A. Should the screen 25 become choked thev oil may overflow through the slots 30 into the receptacle Y 31 and thence into the discharge pipe 29.

'If choking should occur the screen 25 should immediately be removed and a fresh one substituted while the first is being Y cleaned.' The sludge is drawn from compart` ment 24 through cock 32. Y The water can overflow through an open ing 35 intoY the receptacle 36 but in order to maintain the water ata constant level, which should be a little below the oil discharge pipe 23 in the partition, l provide a discharge pipe fwhichprojects into the receptacle 36 and hasV its end threaded -to take the roL tatable coupling 88, which has discharge orifices 38, Bymaking the discharge orifice lowerthan the rim ofthe coupling 38,V the upper part of the coupling is always above the surface of the oil and water and can be readily handled. lf thisv couplingfis turned the vertical position of the dischargeorilices 38a' may be varied so that in consequence the thickness of the film of theoil floating in the compartment 11 may be varied. Ifwater is coming into` the filter mixed with theY oil the proper setting of the coupling 38 will maintain the water level constant. It will be ob-. served that there is a body of water in the compartment 10a. The opening 35 must be in this partition. The various working parts Vare made so as to be easily removable for i cleaning. Thus, the pipe 13 with the traps may be lifted out bodily and plunged into hot water to remove sediment and be then 'quickly replaced. The same applies to the screen 25 and the strainer 15. Oil flowing into the filter through 13 will pass upward through the gauze traps 17 to the overflow 23 into the compartment 24 and thence through screen 25 and openings 26 to dis- Y charge pipe 29 in a condition ready again for use. For ordinarily dirty oils the iirst compartment treatment will suffice, in which case the discharge pipes can be attached to that compartment to convey the oil from the overflow for use. y

`What we do claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesis 1. In an oil filter, a container adapted to contain heated water,a series of superposed gauze traps within the container of different Y diameters and having solid metal roofs, a Vhollow. vertical spindle attached to the traps and discharging into the lowest and smallest trap, short pipes interposed between the gauze traps having their lower ends terminating near the bottom of the traps and their upper ends near the roofs of the traps, substantially as set forth.

2. An oil filter, comprising a'container, a partition dividing the container into two main compartments, a second partition forming a corner compartment in one of the main compartments and terminating short of :the bottom of the container, straining means in both ofthe main compartments, the first mentioned partition having an oil discharge Vopening formed therein near the top thereof and the corner compartmentbeing provided with an overflow opening. Y

In testimony whereof l have signed my name-to this specification inthe presence "of two witnesses. Y

Y RICHARD WEST ROOTS. Y

lVitnesses:

' A. M. CULLEN,

A. BELFORT. 

